Fountain-pen attachment.



0. VON ROTTENBURG. FOUNTAIN PEN ATTACHMENT.

APILIOATIOH FILED JAN. 31, 1910.

Patented June 21, 1910.

mmsmu 0 cv mam OTTO VON ROTTENBURG, OF FRANKFORT-ON-THE-MAIN, GERMANY.

FOUNTAIN-PEN ATTACHMENT.

oeaoas.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 31, 1910.

Patented June 21, 1910. Serial No. 541,133.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OTTO VON ROTTEN- BURG, a subject of the Emperor ofGermany, residing at Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in F ountain-Pen Attachments, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in fountain pens and particularlyto a means whereby leakage of ink, due either to evaporation,capillarity, or otherwise, may be prevented from lodging upon thatportion of of the pen barrel which is grasped by the fingers.

The invention consists in certain specific novel features ofconstruction hereinafter fully described and claimed, and illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an elevation of one endof the pen holder to which is attached the pen protecting cap, thelatter being in section; Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the protectorthimble detached, partly in section; Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinalsection of the protector thimble, showing its manner of construction;Fig. 41 is an illustration of a suitable tool which may be employed inthe manner hereinafter described.

Throughout the following description and on the several figures of thedrawings similar parts are referred to by like reference characters.

At 10 is indicated a pen holder or barrel, which may be of anywell-known or approved construction. 11 indicates the pen point, and 12indicates the feeder. Such parts however do not constitute in themselvesany part of my present invention.

The cap 13 is or may be substantially similar to the caps now commonlyused for the purpose of protecting the pen point, and pen point when thepen is not in use. The cap 13 fits upon the pen end of the holder forthe purpose of protecting the pen oint, and as is usual it may be placedupon the upper end of the pen holder while the pen is being used.

It is well-known that a common source of annoyance in the use of afountain pen lies in the fact that ink will find its way out past theend of the pen point and eventually come into contact with that portionof the pen holder to which the cap 13 is fitted, such portion beingusually the portion of the pen holder grasped by the fingers during theuse of the pen. In order to prevent such ink from adhering to the penholder and thereby subsequently soil the fingers I provide a suitableguard or wiper 14, in the form of a thimble and of suflicient size andshape to fit snugly into the cap 13. The inner surface of the thimblemay be of any suitable form, but preferably is made to conform to theform of the adjacent end of the holder. The thimble may be made of anysuitable absorbent material, and as indicated in Fig. 8 I prefer toconstruct it of laminae, the outermost layer a of which should becomparatively stiff and hard so that the thimble may have the requiredfrictional connection with the cap to prevent accidental displacementthereof from the cap and also to in sure the proper gripping of the capwith the pen holder through the inner end portion of the thimble,indicated at b. The inner portion or laminae c of the thimble arepreferably made of softer material, possessing better absorbentqualities than the harder shell a. The thimble is intended to be heldfirmly connected to the cap during ordinary usage. The connectionbetween the thimble and cap will be accomplished by friction betweenthem, and if desired the friction may be increased by the provision of arib or set of projections 15 extending around the outer surface of thethimble intermediate of its ends, said rib or projections extending intoand cooperating with a groove 13 formed on the inner surface of the cap.Said groove may be formed on the caps now in existence by a simplemilling operation, and with respect to caps undergoing originalmanufacture the grooves may be formed in any suitable manner.

It is to be noted that the thimbles 14: may be cheaply manufactured inlarge quantities and when one thimble has become useless by absorptionof ink it may readily be removed from the cap 13 by any suitable meansand a fresh one put into its place. In Fig. 4 is shown a suggestion of aconvenient tool for the purpose indicated. This consists of a piece ofstrong metal 16 bent upon itself at the middle and with its points bentoutwardly from each other forming angles with the main portions of thedevice. When the tool is grasped with the thumb and finger andcompressed so as to bring the points close together, as indicated indotted lines, it may be introduced through the thimble and upon releasethereof the points will spring outwardly from each other and engage theinner end of the thimble. A pull upon the looped end of the device willthen serve to withdraw the thimble from the cap.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to anyparticular materials in carrying out this invention, and that the formand proportions of the parts may be varied to a considerable extentwithin the spirit thereof.

I claim:

1. In a fountain pen, the combination with a pen barrel and a pen pointcarried thereby, of a cap to inclose said pen point and adjacent end ofthe barrel, and an absorbenthollow cylindrical thimble within the capand conforming to the inclosed end of the barrel, the grip of the capupon the pen barrel operating solely through the said thimble.

2. In a fountain pen, the combination with a pen barrel and a pen pointcarried thereby,

of a cap to inclose and protect the pen point, and an absorbent thimblesnugly fitted into and carried by the cap and adapted to extend betweenthe cap and the adjacent end of the barrel, said thimble being formed oflaminae of varying densities.

3. In a fountain pen, the combination with a pen barrel and a pen pointcarried thereby, of a cap to inclose and protect said pen point, and athimble of absorbent material fitted within the cap and constituting thegripping surface to retain the cap upon the barrel, said cap and thimblebeing provided with a rib and cooperating groove to strengthen theconnection between them.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OTTO VON ROTTENBURG.

Witnesses:

G. L. BEELER, ARTHUR L. BRYANT.

